On December 6, 1941, the US was an isolationist country. That changed on December 7.
The Storm Clouds
War had been looming throughout Europe for nearly a decade. Japan had been making belligerent noises in Asia for more than a decade. Most US citizens, with the devastation and grief of the Great War (1914-18) still fresh in their minds, were strongly opposed to any involvement in another war – particularly one that did not concern them…at least not overtly.
By 1939, what was now termed World War II was riding high in Europe. Within six months, Germany had overrun most of Eastern Europe and was in the process of devastating most of Western Europe as well. For all intents and purposes, Great Britain was standing alone, and shaky at best.
Their new Prime Minister, a 65-year-old Winston Churchill, had been railing against the brutal tyranny of Herr Hitler and his cohorts for the better part of a decade. Most of the time he was ignored. He had developed a private correspondence with a fairly like-minded Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but the US President could read the political realities of a pacifist populace, which included the Congress. No amount of pleading and exhorting from the PM could budge any assistance other than sympathetic moral support.
Nevertheless, in 1940-41 Americans scoured their newspapers and/or were glued to their radios listening to American Edward R. Murrow describe the valiant rescue at Dunkirk and the relentless Battle of Britain. The mood was shifting.
The Day of Infamy
December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, then a US territory. It is considered a pivotal date in history. Less known (at least in the US), is that on the very same date, Japanese planes strafed British colonies Malaya and Hong Kong. Great Britain immediately declared war on Japan, too.
German and Italy, who had been formally allied with Japan since mid-1940, immediately declared war on the United States. That was immediately followed by the US declaring war on German, Italy and Japan.
Like it or not, within 48 hours, we were once again embroiled in a world war. Churchill had at last found the active support he desperately needed. Congress had unanimously hopped aboard the war train, and forgot about isolation.
Needing/desiring real face-time with FDR, Churchill made plans for a personal visit. When FDR expressed safety concerns in the U-boat patrolled Atlantic, the PM paid little attention, and on December 22, the Duke of York landed in Norfolk, VA with its illustrious (and secret) guest.
Welcome to the White House…
It truly was a secret. FDR knew of course, but he had told no one – not even his wife Eleanor. He reassured her by saying that Churchill would only be there for a few days. She wrote in her syndicated newspaper column, that it never occurred to her husband that it might require a good deal of furniture moving and other associated amenities for the British Prime Minister.
Nevertheless, Churchill and his key aides were offered the complete hospitality of the White House. This included transforming an upstairs room into a mini headquarters for the British staff. The downstairs Monroe Room was made into a giant map room.
Then of course, Christmas notwithstanding, Winston Churchill was no ordinary guest. He took full advantage of his guest-ness with a litany of personal demands: a glass of sherry in his room before breakfast, scotch and soda before lunch, and French champagne and aged brandy before bed. He also insisted upon breakfast (in his room) with fruit, orange juice, a pot of tea, with hot food and cold food, which turned out to be eggs on toast, with bacon and ham with mustard.
“One Big Family”…
Churchill wrote to his associates in London that he (and staff) lived with the President (and staff) in great intimacy and informality. That was an understatement.
The PM kept very peculiar (at least to Americans) working habits. Lunching every day with the President was expected. But the two-hour nap was not. Nor was the after-dinner work session, punctuated with brandy and cigars, that lasted into the wee-hours, much to Eleanor Roosevelt’s dismay and exasperation. But it was exactly what was needed to forge the growing close bond between two of the most powerful men in the world, who did not always agree, but had developed huge regard and affection for each other.
The WH staff and servants were shocked to see the British PM wander around in his nightshirt or Chinese silk dressing gown. Or his “trademark” brightly colored onesie. But they got used to it.
What completely shocked the President, however, was when he wheeled himself over to Churchill’s room, knocked, was told to “come in,” and there was the PM naked as a jay bird, blithely dictating some letters to his secretary (who obviously was accustomed to Churchillian habits).
Roosevelt was embarrassed, begged pardon, and went to “excuse himself” for a more opportune time, only to be firmly told by his august houseguest, “You can see that the British Prime Minister has nothing to hide from the American President.”
O Christmas Tree
The emergencies of the War would make 1941 the first Christmas (White House or not) that the Roosevelts did not spend with their children and grandchildren. Most holiday plans were either cancelled or amended appropriately.
For safety and security reasons, the traditional ceremonial lighting of the National Christmas Tree on the ellipse of the White House was due to be cancelled, but the POTUS overruled it. Instead, joined by Winston Churchill on the South Portico, he pressed the button to illuminate to tree, stating that “the dignity and brotherhood of man which Christmas Day signifies more than any other day or any other “symbol” would serve as the country’s greatest weapon against “enemies who preach the principles of hate and practice them.”
And Prime Minister Winston Churchill stayed for three weeks.
Sources:
Camino, Al – ROOSEVELT and CHURCHILL: A Friendship That Saved the World – Chartwell Books, 2018.
Davis, Kenneth – FDR: The War President: 1940-43 – Random House, 2000
Goodwin, Doris Kearns – No Ordinary Time – Simon and Schuster, 1994
https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/franklin-d-roosevelt/
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